The History of England, from the Accession of James the Second - Volume 1 by Thomas Babington Macaulay (diy ebook reader .txt) π
Excerpt from the book:
Read free book Β«The History of England, from the Accession of James the Second - Volume 1 by Thomas Babington Macaulay (diy ebook reader .txt) πΒ» - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
Download in Format:
- Author: Thomas Babington Macaulay
Read book online Β«The History of England, from the Accession of James the Second - Volume 1 by Thomas Babington Macaulay (diy ebook reader .txt) πΒ». Author - Thomas Babington Macaulay
lives on which great interest depended have been
terminated by unforeseen attacks of disease, is to be attributed
partly to the progress of medical and chemical science, but
partly also, it may be hoped, to the progress which the nation
has made in good sense, justice, and humanity.222
When all was over, James retired from the bedside to his closet,
where, during a quarter of an hour, he remained alone. Meanwhile
the Privy Councillors who were in the palace assembled. The new
King came forth, and took his place at the head of the board. He
commenced his administration, according to usage, by a speech to
the Council. He expressed his regret for the loss which he had
just sustained, and he promised to imitate the singular lenity
which had distinguished the late reign. He was aware, he said,
that he had been accused of a fondness for arbitrary power. But
that was not the only falsehood which had been told of him. He
was resolved to maintain the established government both in
Church and State. The Church of England he knew to be eminently
loyal. It should therefore always be his care to support and
defend her. The laws of England, he also knew, were sufficient to
make him as great a King as he could wish to be. He would not
relinquish his own rights; but he would respect the rights of
others. He had formerly risked his life in defense of his
country; and he would still go as far as any man in support of
her just liberties.
This speech was not, like modern speeches on similar occasions,
carefully prepared by the advisers of the sovereign. It was the
extemporaneous expression of the new King's feelings at a moment
of great excitement. The members of the Council broke forth into
clamours of delight and gratitude. The Lord President, Rochester,
in the name of his brethren, expressed a hope that His Majesty's
most welcome declaration would be made public. The Solicitor
General, Heneage Finch, offered to act as clerk. He was a zealous
churchman, and, as such, was naturally desirous that there should
be some permanent record of the gracious promises which had just
been uttered. "Those promises," he said, "have made so deep an
impression on me that I can repeat them word for word." He soon
produced his report. James read it, approved of it, and ordered
it to be published. At a later period he said that he had taken
this step without due consideration, that his unpremeditated
expressions touching the Church of England were too strong, and
that Finch had, with a dexterity which at the time escaped
notice, made them still stronger.223
The King had been exhausted by long watching and by many violent
emotions. He now retired to rest. The Privy Councillors, having
respectfully accompanied him to his bedchamber, returned to their
seats, and issued orders for the ceremony of proclamation. The
Guards were under arms; the heralds appeared in their gorgeous
coats; and the pageant proceeded without any obstruction. Casks
of wine were broken up in the streets, and all who passed were
invited to drink to the health of the new sovereign. But, though
an occasional shout was raised, the people were not in a joyous
mood. Tears were seen in many eyes; and it was remarked that
there was scarcely a housemaid in London who had not contrived to
procure some fragment of black crepe in honour of King
Charles.224
The funeral called forth much censure. It would, indeed, hardly
have been accounted worthy of a noble and opulent subject. The
Tories gently blamed the new King's parsimony: the Whigs sneered
at his want of natural affection; and the fiery Covenanters of
Scotland exultingly proclaimed that the curse denounced of old
against wicked princes had been signally fulfilled, and that the
departed tyrant had been buried with the burial of an ass.225 Yet
James commenced his administration with a large measure of public
good will. His speech to the Council appeared in print, and the
impression which it produced was highly favourable to him. This,
then, was the prince whom a faction had driven into exile and had
tried to rob of his birthright, on the ground that he was a
deadly enemy to the religion and laws of England. He had
triumphed: he was on the throne; and his first act was to declare
that he would defend the Church, and would strictly respect the
rights of his people. The estimate which all parties had formed
of his character, added weight to every word that fell from him.
The Whigs called him haughty, implacable, obstinate, regardless
of public opinion. The Tories, while they extolled his princely
virtues, had often lamented his neglect of the arts which
conciliate popularity. Satire itself had never represented him as
a man likely to court public favour by professing what he did not
feel, and by promising what he had no intention of performing. On
the Sunday which followed his accession, his speech was quoted in
many pulpits. "We have now for our Church," cried one loyal
preacher, "the word of a King, and of a King who was never worse
than his word." This pointed sentence was fast circulated through
town and country, and was soon the watchword of the whole Tory
party.226
The great offices of state had become vacant by the demise of the
crown and it was necessary for James to determine how they should
be filled. Few of the members of the late cabinet had any reason
to expect his favour. Sunderland, who was Secretary of State, and
Godolphin, who was First Lord of the Treasury, had supported the
Exclusion Bill. Halifax, who held the Privy Seal, had opposed
that bill with unrivalled powers of argument and eloquence. But
Halifax was the mortal enemy of despotism and of Popery. He saw
with dread the progress of the French arms on the Continent and
the influence of French gold in the counsels of England. Had his
advice been followed, the laws would have been strictly observed:
clemency would have been extended to the vanquished Whigs: the
Parliament would have been convoked in due season: an attempt
would have been made to reconcile our domestic factions; and the
principles of the Triple Alliance would again have guided our
foreign policy. He had therefore incurred the bitter animosity of
James. The Lord Keeper Guildford could hardly be said to belong
to either of the parties into which the court was divided. He
could by no means be called a friend of liberty; and yet he had
so great a reverence for the letter of the law that he was not a
serviceable tool of arbitrary power. He was accordingly
designated by the vehement Tories as a Trimmer, and was to James
an object of aversion with which contempt was largely mingled.
Ormond, who was Lord Steward of the Household and Viceroy of
Ireland, then resided at Dublin. His claims on the royal
gratitude were superior to those of any other subject. He had
fought bravely for Charles the First: he had shared the exile of
Charles the Second; and, since the Restoration, he had, in spite
of many provocations, kept his loyalty unstained. Though he had
been disgraced during the predominance of the Cabal, he had never
gone into factious opposition, and had, in the days of the Popish
Plot and the Exclusion Bill, been foremost among the supporters
of the throne. He was now old, and had been recently tried by the
most cruel of all calamities. He had followed to the grave a son
who should have been his own chief mourner, the gallant Ossory.
The eminent services, the venerable age, and the domestic
misfortunes of Ormond made him an object of general interest to
the nation. The Cavaliers regarded him as, both by right of
seniority and by right of merit, their head; and the Whigs knew
that, faithful as he had always been to the cause of monarchy, he
was no friend either to Popery or to arbitrary power. But, high
as he stood in the public estimation, he had little favor to
expect from his new master. James, indeed, while still a subject,
had urged his brother to make a complete change in the Irish
administration. Charles had assented; and it had been arranged
that, in a few months, there should be a new Lord Lieutenant.227
Rochester was the only member of the cabinet who stood high in
the favour of the King. The general expectation was that he would
be immediately placed at the head of affairs, and that all the
other great officers of the state would be changed. This
expectation proved to be well founded in part only. Rochester was
declared Lord Treasurer, and thus became prime minister. Neither
a Lord High Admiral nor a Board of Admiralty was appointed. The
new King, who loved the details of naval business, and would have
made a respectable clerk in a dockyard at Chatham, determined to
be his own minister of marine. Under him the management of that
important department was confided to Samuel Pepys, whose library
and diary have kept his name fresh to our time. No servant of the
late sovereign was publicly disgraced. Sunderland exerted so much
art and address, employed so many intercessors, and was in
possession of so many secrets, that he was suffered to retain his
seals. Godolphin's obsequiousness, industry, experience and
taciturnity, could ill be spared. As he was no longer wanted at
the Treasury, he was made Chamberlain to the Queen. With these
three Lords the King took counsel on all important questions. As
to Halifax, Ormond, and Guildford, he determined not yet to
dismiss them, but merely to humble and annoy them.
Halifax was told that he must give up the Privy seal and accept
the Presidency of the Council. He submitted with extreme
reluctance. For, though the President of the Council had always
taken precedence of the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Privy Seal was,
in that age a much more important officer than the Lord
President. Rochester had not forgotten the jest which had been
made a few months before on his own removal from the Treasury,
and enjoyed in his turn the pleasure of kicking his rival up
stairs. The Privy Seal was delivered to Rochester's elder
brother, Henry Earl of Clarendon.
To Barillon James expressed the strongest dislike of Halifax. "I
know him well, I never can trust him. He shall have no share in
the management of public business. As to the place which I have
given him, it will just serve to show how little influence he
has." But to Halifax it was thought convenient to hold a very
different language. "All the past is forgotten," said the King,
"except the service which you did me in the debate on the
Exclusion Bill."
terminated by unforeseen attacks of disease, is to be attributed
partly to the progress of medical and chemical science, but
partly also, it may be hoped, to the progress which the nation
has made in good sense, justice, and humanity.222
When all was over, James retired from the bedside to his closet,
where, during a quarter of an hour, he remained alone. Meanwhile
the Privy Councillors who were in the palace assembled. The new
King came forth, and took his place at the head of the board. He
commenced his administration, according to usage, by a speech to
the Council. He expressed his regret for the loss which he had
just sustained, and he promised to imitate the singular lenity
which had distinguished the late reign. He was aware, he said,
that he had been accused of a fondness for arbitrary power. But
that was not the only falsehood which had been told of him. He
was resolved to maintain the established government both in
Church and State. The Church of England he knew to be eminently
loyal. It should therefore always be his care to support and
defend her. The laws of England, he also knew, were sufficient to
make him as great a King as he could wish to be. He would not
relinquish his own rights; but he would respect the rights of
others. He had formerly risked his life in defense of his
country; and he would still go as far as any man in support of
her just liberties.
This speech was not, like modern speeches on similar occasions,
carefully prepared by the advisers of the sovereign. It was the
extemporaneous expression of the new King's feelings at a moment
of great excitement. The members of the Council broke forth into
clamours of delight and gratitude. The Lord President, Rochester,
in the name of his brethren, expressed a hope that His Majesty's
most welcome declaration would be made public. The Solicitor
General, Heneage Finch, offered to act as clerk. He was a zealous
churchman, and, as such, was naturally desirous that there should
be some permanent record of the gracious promises which had just
been uttered. "Those promises," he said, "have made so deep an
impression on me that I can repeat them word for word." He soon
produced his report. James read it, approved of it, and ordered
it to be published. At a later period he said that he had taken
this step without due consideration, that his unpremeditated
expressions touching the Church of England were too strong, and
that Finch had, with a dexterity which at the time escaped
notice, made them still stronger.223
The King had been exhausted by long watching and by many violent
emotions. He now retired to rest. The Privy Councillors, having
respectfully accompanied him to his bedchamber, returned to their
seats, and issued orders for the ceremony of proclamation. The
Guards were under arms; the heralds appeared in their gorgeous
coats; and the pageant proceeded without any obstruction. Casks
of wine were broken up in the streets, and all who passed were
invited to drink to the health of the new sovereign. But, though
an occasional shout was raised, the people were not in a joyous
mood. Tears were seen in many eyes; and it was remarked that
there was scarcely a housemaid in London who had not contrived to
procure some fragment of black crepe in honour of King
Charles.224
The funeral called forth much censure. It would, indeed, hardly
have been accounted worthy of a noble and opulent subject. The
Tories gently blamed the new King's parsimony: the Whigs sneered
at his want of natural affection; and the fiery Covenanters of
Scotland exultingly proclaimed that the curse denounced of old
against wicked princes had been signally fulfilled, and that the
departed tyrant had been buried with the burial of an ass.225 Yet
James commenced his administration with a large measure of public
good will. His speech to the Council appeared in print, and the
impression which it produced was highly favourable to him. This,
then, was the prince whom a faction had driven into exile and had
tried to rob of his birthright, on the ground that he was a
deadly enemy to the religion and laws of England. He had
triumphed: he was on the throne; and his first act was to declare
that he would defend the Church, and would strictly respect the
rights of his people. The estimate which all parties had formed
of his character, added weight to every word that fell from him.
The Whigs called him haughty, implacable, obstinate, regardless
of public opinion. The Tories, while they extolled his princely
virtues, had often lamented his neglect of the arts which
conciliate popularity. Satire itself had never represented him as
a man likely to court public favour by professing what he did not
feel, and by promising what he had no intention of performing. On
the Sunday which followed his accession, his speech was quoted in
many pulpits. "We have now for our Church," cried one loyal
preacher, "the word of a King, and of a King who was never worse
than his word." This pointed sentence was fast circulated through
town and country, and was soon the watchword of the whole Tory
party.226
The great offices of state had become vacant by the demise of the
crown and it was necessary for James to determine how they should
be filled. Few of the members of the late cabinet had any reason
to expect his favour. Sunderland, who was Secretary of State, and
Godolphin, who was First Lord of the Treasury, had supported the
Exclusion Bill. Halifax, who held the Privy Seal, had opposed
that bill with unrivalled powers of argument and eloquence. But
Halifax was the mortal enemy of despotism and of Popery. He saw
with dread the progress of the French arms on the Continent and
the influence of French gold in the counsels of England. Had his
advice been followed, the laws would have been strictly observed:
clemency would have been extended to the vanquished Whigs: the
Parliament would have been convoked in due season: an attempt
would have been made to reconcile our domestic factions; and the
principles of the Triple Alliance would again have guided our
foreign policy. He had therefore incurred the bitter animosity of
James. The Lord Keeper Guildford could hardly be said to belong
to either of the parties into which the court was divided. He
could by no means be called a friend of liberty; and yet he had
so great a reverence for the letter of the law that he was not a
serviceable tool of arbitrary power. He was accordingly
designated by the vehement Tories as a Trimmer, and was to James
an object of aversion with which contempt was largely mingled.
Ormond, who was Lord Steward of the Household and Viceroy of
Ireland, then resided at Dublin. His claims on the royal
gratitude were superior to those of any other subject. He had
fought bravely for Charles the First: he had shared the exile of
Charles the Second; and, since the Restoration, he had, in spite
of many provocations, kept his loyalty unstained. Though he had
been disgraced during the predominance of the Cabal, he had never
gone into factious opposition, and had, in the days of the Popish
Plot and the Exclusion Bill, been foremost among the supporters
of the throne. He was now old, and had been recently tried by the
most cruel of all calamities. He had followed to the grave a son
who should have been his own chief mourner, the gallant Ossory.
The eminent services, the venerable age, and the domestic
misfortunes of Ormond made him an object of general interest to
the nation. The Cavaliers regarded him as, both by right of
seniority and by right of merit, their head; and the Whigs knew
that, faithful as he had always been to the cause of monarchy, he
was no friend either to Popery or to arbitrary power. But, high
as he stood in the public estimation, he had little favor to
expect from his new master. James, indeed, while still a subject,
had urged his brother to make a complete change in the Irish
administration. Charles had assented; and it had been arranged
that, in a few months, there should be a new Lord Lieutenant.227
Rochester was the only member of the cabinet who stood high in
the favour of the King. The general expectation was that he would
be immediately placed at the head of affairs, and that all the
other great officers of the state would be changed. This
expectation proved to be well founded in part only. Rochester was
declared Lord Treasurer, and thus became prime minister. Neither
a Lord High Admiral nor a Board of Admiralty was appointed. The
new King, who loved the details of naval business, and would have
made a respectable clerk in a dockyard at Chatham, determined to
be his own minister of marine. Under him the management of that
important department was confided to Samuel Pepys, whose library
and diary have kept his name fresh to our time. No servant of the
late sovereign was publicly disgraced. Sunderland exerted so much
art and address, employed so many intercessors, and was in
possession of so many secrets, that he was suffered to retain his
seals. Godolphin's obsequiousness, industry, experience and
taciturnity, could ill be spared. As he was no longer wanted at
the Treasury, he was made Chamberlain to the Queen. With these
three Lords the King took counsel on all important questions. As
to Halifax, Ormond, and Guildford, he determined not yet to
dismiss them, but merely to humble and annoy them.
Halifax was told that he must give up the Privy seal and accept
the Presidency of the Council. He submitted with extreme
reluctance. For, though the President of the Council had always
taken precedence of the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Privy Seal was,
in that age a much more important officer than the Lord
President. Rochester had not forgotten the jest which had been
made a few months before on his own removal from the Treasury,
and enjoyed in his turn the pleasure of kicking his rival up
stairs. The Privy Seal was delivered to Rochester's elder
brother, Henry Earl of Clarendon.
To Barillon James expressed the strongest dislike of Halifax. "I
know him well, I never can trust him. He shall have no share in
the management of public business. As to the place which I have
given him, it will just serve to show how little influence he
has." But to Halifax it was thought convenient to hold a very
different language. "All the past is forgotten," said the King,
"except the service which you did me in the debate on the
Exclusion Bill."
Free e-book: Β«The History of England, from the Accession of James the Second - Volume 1 by Thomas Babington Macaulay (diy ebook reader .txt) πΒ» - read online now on website american library books (americanlibrarybooks.com)
Similar e-books:
Comments (0)